Rodehutskors family on a Grey Cup pilgrimage

Vicki Hall, Calgary Herald11.22.2012

The family of the late Steven Rodehutskors poses with football memorabilia from their dad before they head off to the 100th Grey Cup to honour his memory. From left are, Thomas Rodehutskors, 6, holding one of his dad’s Grey Cup rings, Steven’s wife Tracey Deplaedt, and son Justin Dibblee, 16.

Six-year-old Thomas Rodehutskors created a character on his favourite video game named Steve, after a man he can’t remember.

A man he thirsts to know everything about from his height (six-foot-seven) to his to his jobs (football player, veterinarian, and investment broker) to his passions (hiking and camping.)

“My dad also played basketball,” Thomas says helpfully. “But he didn’t play dodgeball.”

On Friday morning, Thomas, his mom Tracey and half-brother Justin boarded a plane to Toronto to take in the 100th Grey Cup. The trip, funded by the Canadian Football League and Cisco, is a pilgrimage, of sorts, for a young boy looking for his father.

A young boy in search of context for the 1990 Grey Cup ring that hangs around his neck on an oversized silver chain.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” says Thomas, a well-spoken chap who turns seven next month.

Steven Rodehutskors, an imposing offensive lineman for eight seasons with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, died five years ago from a mystery form of cancer at age 43.

“Thomas, he was nearly 2 when his dad passed away,” says his mom, Tracey Deplaedt. “This is the first time he’s old enough to understand it.

“I mean, it’s easy to talk about the Grey Cup, to tell him your dad played and he won some rings. But I don’t think you really understand until you see the Cup and you see the big football players there.”

The all-expenses trip to Toronto came as a result of an outing to the Grey Cup train when it rolled through their hometown of Okotoks this summer.

Sensing the importance, sensing the opportunity, Tracey took her son in hopes of teaching him something about his dad.

Once aboard the train, they saw the ticket stubs from the Grey Cup championships he won (1988 and 1990.) They looked at the game posters, the vintage blue and gold uniforms. They found his name engraved on Lord Grey’s chalice.

Then they received the invitation to the 100th Grey Cup Sunday at Rogers Centre.

“This is actually the first few months where I’ve been able to look at the photo albums again,” Tracey says. “And now we’re in the thick of it and reliving things.

“Ultimately, for me, this is a chance to remember him again, to keep it going.”

A Vanier Cup champion with the University of Calgary Dinos and basketball player for the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns, Rodehutskors refused to let sports define him. He simply wasn’t one of those folks to regale dinner parties with tales of gridiron glory.

“The one thing I would say about my Steve would be that he was pretty much a renaissance man,” Tracey explains. “Football was only part of his life.”

Upon retirement from the Bombers, Rodehutskors worked in the investment world before opening a large-animal veterinary clinic in Strathmore.

At 42, cancer struck Rodehutskors when Tracey was nine months pregnant with Thomas. At first, the doctors couldn’t figure out why his body started to rebel against him.

Eight months later, the family finally received the diagnosis: an unknown primary cancer that had spread to the point of no return.

“He was a fighter,” Thomas says.

Indeed. Rodehutskors continued to tend to cows and horses. He continued to camp and hike . He continued to savour every moment with his three children, Jeffrey, Mark, and Thomas. Until one day, the time came when his body would no longer cooperate.

“We had so much help,” Tracey says. “The veterinarians Steve worked with did his job when he couldn’t, and they let us bill for it. All his football and basketball buddies did fundraisers.

“And we never had to buy groceries because the Hutterites (loyal vet clients) supplied everything we needed, literally for nearly two years. We would wake up in the morning, and there would be a big turkey on our doorstep.”

Rodehutskors died on Oct. 25, 2007. Every year to mark the anniversary, Tracey and the boys release balloons skyward, with personal messages attached.

“This year, we’re going to do it on Sunday morning by the stadium,” Tracey says, tousling Thomas’s blonde hair. “We’ll write our little notes and send them up to him.

“He’ll be happy that we’ll be there, being a part of it.”

None more part of it than a blonde-haired boy in a blue and gold jersey emblazoned with the number 57.

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